By RICHARD CROOME
Eagle Staff Writer

Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend

In less than 24 hours, the Texas A&M baseball team went from pulling off one of its biggest comebacks to registering it largest margin of victory in Big 12 play.

The No. 6 Aggies pummeled the No. 10 Missouri Tigers 15-0 and set a Big 12 record with their 14th straight conference win. A&M was coming off a 9-8 victory on Friday in which it came back from an 8-1 deficit in the late innings.

Texas A&M improved to 36-7 overall and 17-3 in Big 12. The Tigers fell to 29-13 and 9-8. The Ags will go for their fifth straight weekend sweep at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Olsen Field.

"Fourteen in a row is a big deal, and our whole team prides ourselves on it right now," said Luke Anders, who hit solo home runs his first two times up Saturday. "Everyone on this team is playing good, playing loose and just playing relaxed and getting after people."

A&M got after it from the second inning on against Missouri and losing pitcher Kyle Gibson, who entered the game with a 6-0 record and a 3.07 ERA.

The Aggies hit three homers off Gibson in five innings after he had given up just two in 58 innings this season.

The Aggies then pounded the Tigers' three relievers for eight hits, including a pinch-hit homer in the eighth by Caleb Shofner.

A&M starting pitcher Barret Loux (4-1) went six innings, giving up jut two hits and two walks.

"Barret Loux was outstanding today," A&M head coach Rob Childress said. "You can't ask more from any pitcher in the country over the last three weeks."

A&M's two relievers, Kirkand Rivers and Evan Gerald, were just as good, surrendering a hit and a walk in three innings. The Aggies were also perfect in the field.

"It was pretty close [to a complete game]," Childress said. "We scored in every inning but one, we threw a shutout and we had no errors on the board. I'd say that's a pretty good day."

A&M got three hits each from their No. 8 and No. 9 hitters, Brodie Greene and Kevin Gonzalez. Gonzalez also had a career-high five RBIs and raised his average from .211 to .240.

"The pitcher was throwing strikes and we want to be aggressive, and I just felt like I just made good contact every at bat," said Gonzalez, who hoped to change his luck by switching his introduction song to Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain."

"I said to coach, 'This song isn't getting me any hits,' so coach Jason Hutchins went on the Internet and picked out this song today."

Gonzalez' big blow was a bases-clearing double in the seventh.

Anders matched his home run total from a season ago with his 10th and 11th, and Dane Carter went the opposite way for his seventh homer of the season, a two-run shot in the third that made it 4-0 against Gibson.

"I thought Kyle [Gibson] threw OK. He did OK until he got worn down a little bit in the fifth inning," Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. "They are just on fire right now, and I don't think it really matters what we do, yesterday or today, they are going to find a way to win."

The Aggies went to small ball in the fifth inning, scoring three runs on three singles, a hit batsman, a walk and a sacrifice fly.

Darby Brown had the sacrifice fly and Duran and Stouffer each knocked in a run with a single.

The Aggies also helped their own cause in the field, thwarting the only threat the Tigers had with two great defensive plays.

With one out in the third, Kyle Mach found the hole between first and second, but right fielder Brian Ruggiano charged the ball and threw Mach out at first base. The next two batters reached base, then Aaron Senne drove a ball deep in the left-center gap that Greene ran down near the warning track.

"Their starting pitcher was very good, he did a tremendous job," Jamieson said. "They made a nice play in the gap, but it didn't matter, today was just a mismatch."

NOTES -- Jose Duran extended his hit streak to 13 when he beat out a chopper in the hole in the fifth inning. ... Game 3 will pit A&M's Clayton Ehlert (5-2, 3.21 ERA) against either Rick Zagone (1-2, 6.75) or Ian Berger (3-3, 3.02).

---

Share this story:

 Google   Yahoo   digg   del.icio.us 

 facebook   Slashdot